Carson continues Obama Zoning Policy

Timothy Birdnow

The Obama Administration instituted a policy of Federal coercion over zoning policies across the country, ostensibly to promote racial integration but in essence to gerrymander the electoral districts and overturn the spoils of Republican electoral success.

Sadly, the Trump Administration is still doing it. Robert Romano dishes:

The American people are still awaiting the Trump administration rewrite of the Obama-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housingrule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The original rule, finalized in 2015, conditioned more than $3 billion of annual community development block grants to more than 1,200 cities and counties on making changes to local zoning based on income and racial guidelines.

It would have put the federal government in charge of zoning for every major population center in the country that depends on federal funding, an effective end of local government in the name of social justice. In addition, critics blasted the danger of this power being used for political gerrymandering.

Congress largely barred HUD from implenenting this by defunding any such efforts. But sadly, Ben Carson is pursuing this strategy anyway:

However, HUD Secretary Ben Carson appears committed to continuing to use block grants to make changes to zoning, not to address racial or income inequality, but to help making housing more affordable. In an Aug. 13, 2018 interviewwith the Wall Street Journal he said, "I would incentivize people who really would like to get a nice juicy government grant [to look at their zoning codes].”

This is very disappointing; Carson should know better. But these bureaucrats tend to start thinking only in terms of what they have the power to do. The basics of Federalism takes a back burner.

In the end, if this is allowed to continue, the precedent has been set, and future presidents under a more favorable Congress will get what Obama wanted.

This is an abomination. It should be ended.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 11:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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